Author: Ben Pivoz

For a long time, the Western was one of the dominant genres in the American film industry. After getting off to a good start in the silent film era, it declined throughout the 1920s and 30s before experiencing a resurgence in the 1940s. At that point, it became extremely popular in the United States and helped create such iconic stars as John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. However, beginning in the 1970s, audience appetite for the genre began to wane. Nowadays, very few Western films are produced. Unlike many other genres, even when a Western becomes popular and is financially successful, it does not necessarily lead to a rush from the studios to make more or a clamoring from audiences to see more. Although, even among the few Westerns that are produced, true financial successes are few and far between. Additionally, the way critics and audiences respond to the Western, and the way studios have begun to regard the genre, has changed dramatically over the last several decades. I am going to look at two films, …